172 THE LATE REV. P. DEHON ON 



dain and dain besahis are at work ; their mantras are so powerful as to enable the bhuts to 

 laugh at the ojhas " Inde irae." In some cases, when the ojhas and the people have not 

 lost their heads, and are not over-excited, they have recourse to the kansphandi and the 

 sokha, in the manner already described. But when the epidemic has been very virulent 

 and many people or cattle have died, their rage knows no bounds, and they must 

 have victims at once. Full scope is then given to the inventive powers of the ojhas, 

 provided they can supernaturally show the culprits. Two examples will suffice to show 

 how they proceed in such a case. 



ist. — All the people of the village are called and made to sit in two rows, the ojhas 

 sitting in the middle. Clods of earth, each representing a man or woman, are placed at 

 some distance, and a small boy sits near the ojhas with his hand resting on a stone. The 

 ojhas then begin to mutter their mantras and chant their incantations, and stir the rice 

 in their winnowing-fans. After an hour or two the stone begins to move and drags the 

 boy to one of the clods of earth. They then renew the operations till the stone refuses 

 to move. Those that have been designated in that way are then caught bound and 

 beaten in such a way that they very seldom escape with their life. 



2nd. — The people are called and made to sit so as to form an immense circle, in the 

 middle of which the ojhas sit. A handful of rice is distributed to everyone, and a he-goat 

 is bound close to the ojhas. After one or two hours of mantras and incantations, the 

 people are told to stretch out their hands with the rice resting on the open palm in front 

 of them. The he-goat is then let loose. He goes sniffing about, and when he finds the 

 dain besahi eats of the rice, — those that are designated in this fashion are sometimes 

 buried alive, a custom which still exists in the Native States, though it has entirely dis- 

 appeared in Lohardaga and Palamau. Cases of beating to death are frequent every- 

 where. 



In connection with cattle diseases, they have a custom which bears some resem- 

 blance to the Rog Khedna. When they see that their cows and bullocks are getting 

 lean and sickly they have recourse to a means which is well calculated to be very effec- 

 tive. The goala or herdsman is called, and the people assemble, armed with sticks. 

 They detatch a big wooden bell from the neck of one of the bullocks and tie it to the neck 

 otthe goa/a. Then follows a scene never to be forgotten by the herdsmen. All heap 

 insults upon him, and threaten him with their sticks It is indeed a most ludicrous sight 

 to see the herdsman taking to his heels with his big bell dangling round his neck, 

 followed by a mass of black fiends howling behind him. Arrived at the boundary of the 

 village he lets drop the bell. A sacrifice is offered, and the cattle are bound to get all 

 right. 



There remain still some practices which it is difficult to classify. For example, 

 thepujas of Chandi and Barpahari and the two feasts of Sohrai and Karam with the two 

 bhaiaries. Chandi is the goddess of hunting — she is represented by a stone at the foot 

 of a tree. Chandi is a queer goddess that seems to rejoice in the familiarity of young 

 unmarried boys. There is a day on which the boys have to come and make water near 

 her stone, and she receives her puja only from them. Eight days before a hunting 

 expedition the boys assemble near the stone representing Chandi, and one of them is 



